Display generating device to display multi-hop network

ABSTRACT

A display generating device includes a display screen generator generating a display screen showing connection status between each wireless communication device in a wireless network in which a plurality of the wireless communication devices operate in an autonomous and distributed manner, and a detector detecting an operation of changing connection status performed by a user via the display screen generated by the display screen generator, wherein, when the operation of changing connection status is detected by the detector, the display generating device performs a change process of reflecting the content of the operation of changing connection status.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/533,724, filed Jun.26, 2012, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/361,491,filed Jan. 28, 2009, which claims the right to priority based onJapanese Patent Application JP 2008-025453 filed in the Japan PatentOffice on Feb. 5, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a display generating device, a displaygenerating method, a program and a wireless communication system.

Description of the Related Art

In recent years, a wireless multi-hop network is drawing attention inwhich a plurality of wireless communication devices operate in anautonomous and distributed manner and the communication area can beeasily enlarged. In such a wireless multi-hop network, a communicationpath between a transmitting device and a receiving device is determinedby a routing protocol, and data is transmitted from the transmittingdevice along the determined communication path.

Further, when there are multiple communication paths to the receivingdevice, to select a communication path, statistical informationindicating wireless link status between the transmitting device and arelay device, for example, is taken into consideration. The statisticalinformation indicating wireless link status may be various informationdepending on the assumed system. For example, when constructing a streamtransmission system or a high traffic system, the statisticalinformation may be throughput value, delay time, or the like. On theother hand, when constructing a system where packettransmission/reception may be performed with high reliability, even ifthe throughput may be somewhat low, the statistical information may be areceived signal strength indicator (RSSI), a packet error rate (PER), orthe like.

Then, when an event occurs that causes a change in the wireless link,for example, when a wireless communication device moves in the wirelessmulti-hop network or the power is cut off, the communication path isreset by the routing protocol according to the change. For example,JP-A-2007-215179 discloses a method for notifying a wireless multi-hopnetwork of the occurrence of such events that cause a change in thewireless link.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, there are cases where a user is aware beforehand of theoccurrence of an event that causes a change in the wireless link, or theuser desires to control the communication path according to his needs orobject. Thus, a structure has been desired where the routing protocoloperates in an autonomous and distributed manner, and, at the same time,a user can engage in the setting of a communication path.

Thus, in view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a new andimproved display generating device, a display generating method, aprogram and a wireless communication system capable of changingconnection status between wireless communication devices based on a useroperation and resetting a communication path.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided adisplay generating device including a display screen generatorgenerating a display screen showing connection status between eachwireless communication device in a wireless network in which a pluralityof the wireless communication devices operate in an autonomous anddistributed manner, and a detector detecting an operation of changingconnection status performed by a user via the display screen generatedby the display screen generator, wherein, when the operation of changingconnection status is detected by the detector, the display generatingdevice performs a change process of reflecting the content of theoperation of changing connection status.

With such a configuration, the user can perform the operation ofchanging connection status between the wireless communication devicesvia the display screen generated by the display screen generator. Then,when the change operation is performed by the user, the displaygenerating device performs the change process of reflecting the contentof the change operation. That is, according to the display generatingdevice, a process according to the operation of changing connectionstatus by the user can be performed.

The display generating device may have a function of the wirelesscommunication device configuring the wireless network, and may furtherinclude a path setter setting a path to another wireless communicationdevice in the wireless network, wherein, when the operation of changingconnection status is detected by the detector, the path setter mayreset, as the change process, the path to the other wirelesscommunication device according to the content of the operation ofchanging connection status. With such a configuration, when the changeoperation is performed by the user, a communication path to anotherwireless communication device is reset according to the changeoperation. That is, according to the display generating device, it ismade possible for a routing protocol to operate in an autonomous anddistributed manner, and, at the same time, for the user to engage in thesetting of a communication path.

When the operation of changing connection status is detected by thedetector, the display screen generator may generate, as the changeprocess, a display screen reflecting the content of the operation ofchanging connection status. With such a configuration, it is madepossible for the user viewing the display screen to visually grasp theconnection status between each wireless communication device.

The display generating device may further include a transmittertransmitting, when the operation of changing connection status isdetected by the detector, the content of the operation of changingconnection status to the wireless communication device in the wirelessnetwork. With such a configuration, it is made possible for the wirelesscommunication device that received the content of the operation ofchanging connection status transmitted from the transmitter to perform aprocess according to the content of the change operation, such asresetting of the communication path.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a display generating method, including the steps of generatinga display screen showing connection status between each wirelesscommunication device in a wireless network in which a plurality of thewireless communication devices operate in an autonomous and distributedmanner, detecting an operation of changing connection status performedby a user via the display screen, and performing, when the operation ofchanging connection status is detected, a change process of reflectingthe content of the operation of changing connection status.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a program causing a computer to function as a display screengenerator generating a display screen showing connection status betweeneach wireless communication device in a wireless network in which aplurality of the wireless communication devices operate in an autonomousand distributed manner, and a detector detecting an operation ofchanging connection status performed by a user via the display screengenerated by the display screen generator, wherein the program causesthe computer to perform, when the operation of changing connectionstatus is detected by the detector, a change process of reflecting thecontent of the operation of changing connection status.

The program can have the functions of the display screen generator andthe detector described above performed by computer hardware resourcesthat include, for example, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. That is,it is possible to cause a computer using such program to function as thedisplay screen generator and the detector described above.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a wireless communication system including a plurality ofwireless communication devices that operate in an autonomous anddistributed manner and configure a wireless network, wherein each of theplurality of the wireless communication devices includes a path settersetting a path to another wireless communication device in the wirelessnetwork, a display screen generator generating a display screen showingconnection status between each wireless communication device in thewireless network, and a detector detecting an operation of changingconnection status performed by a user via the display screen generatedby the display screen generator, wherein, when the operation of changingconnection status is detected by the detector, the path setter resetsthe path to the other wireless communication device according to thecontent of the operation of changing connection status.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, connection statusbetween wireless communication devices can be changed based on a useroperation, and a communication path can be reset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a wirelesscommunication system according to a present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a path table where all thewireless links are Permit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a path table where some of thewireless links are Willnever.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a path table where some of thewireless links are Refuse.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a hardware configuration of awireless communication device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a function block diagram showing a configuration of thewireless communication device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screenshowing connection status.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a path tablegenerated by a path table generator.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a user operationis being performed on the display screen showing connection status.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a user operationis being performed on the display screen showing connection status.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the updated path table.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a user operationis being performed on the display screen showing connection status.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the updated path table.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing a flow of a method for generating adisplay executed in the wireless communication device.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing a flow of a method for generating adisplay executed in the wireless communication device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described inthe order shown below.

(1) Overview of a wireless communication system according to the presentembodiment

(2) Configuration of a wireless communication device

(3) Operation of the wireless communication device

(4) Conclusion

(1) OVERVIEW OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM ACCORDING TO THE PRESENTEMBODIMENT

First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a wireless communication system 1according to the present embodiment will be schematically described.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of the wirelesscommunication system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown inFIG. 1, the wireless communication system 1 includes a plurality ofwireless communication devices 20A to 20D. Incidentally, in thisspecification, to distinguish the wireless communication devices fromeach other, capital letters are added to the reference numeral, such aswireless communication devices 20A to 20D. However, when it is notnecessary to particularly distinguish the wireless communication devicesfrom each other, they are collectively referred to as the wirelesscommunication device 20.

Also, in FIG. 1, the wireless communication device 20 is shown simply asa circle as an example of the display generating device. However, thewireless communication device 20 may be an arbitrary informationprocessor, such as a personal computer (PC), an image processingapparatus in homes (a DVD recorder, a video cassette recorder or thelike), a mobile phone, a Personal Handyphone System (PHS), a portablemusic playback device, a portable image processing device, a personaldigital assistants (PDA), a home game machine, a portable game machine,home electronics, or the like.

The wireless communication device 20 can perform unicast fortransmitting data to a particular wireless communication device, orflooding communication. Here, the flooding communication is acommunication where each wireless communication device 20 that receiveddata including, for example, path information broadcasts the data sothat the data is relayed to one wireless communication device afteranother. Relaying of data by a wireless communication device 20 may bealso expressed as hop.

When unicasting, the wireless communication device 20 transmits dataalong a communication path determined by the routing protocol. Here, thecommunication path determined by the routing protocol differs dependingon the wireless link (connection status) between each wirelesscommunication device 20. In this specification, such a wireless linkwill be expressed using one of the following three stages.

(1) Permit

In the routing protocol, the wireless link can be used as a non-relaylink, and also as a relay link.

(2) Willnever

In the routing protocol, the wireless link can be used as a non-relaylink, but not as a relay link.

(3) Refuse

In the routing protocol, the wireless link can be used neither as anon-relay link nor as a relay link.

Here, the relay link is a link between a transmitting device and areceiving device, and it means that the data transmitted from thetransmitting device is relayed by the receiving device. For example, inthe example shown in FIG. 1, when the wireless communication device 20Atransmits data to the wireless communication device 20D as thedestination via the wireless communication device 20B, the link betweenthe wireless communication devices 20A and 20B corresponds to the relaylink.

Further, the non-relay link is a link between a transmitting device anda receiving device, and it means that the final destination of the datatransmitted from the transmitting device is the receiving device andthat the receiving device does not relay the data. For example, in theexample shown in FIG. 1, when the wireless communication device 20Atransmits data to the wireless communication device 20B as thedestination, the link between the wireless communication devices 20A and20B corresponds to the non-relay link.

Due to the property of the wireless link as described above, when thewireless link changes, the communication path is also changed by therouting protocol. A case where the communication path is changedfollowing the change in the wireless link will be described withreference to FIGS. 2 to 4. Incidentally, in the present embodiment, anyrouting protocol, such as a pro-active routing protocol, a reactiverouting protocol, a hybrid routing protocol, or the like, may be used.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the path table of the wirelesscommunication device 20A where all the wireless links are Permit. Sinceall the wireless links are Permit, the link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20B can also be used as a relay link.Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, when the destination is the wirelesscommunication device 20D, a communication path with 2 hops, goingthrough the wireless communication device 20B, is set. Incidentally, inthis specification, to simplify the description, it is assumed that theletter added to the reference numeral of a device corresponds to theaddress of the device. For example, the description is made assumingthat the address of the wireless communication device 20B is B.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the path table of the wirelesscommunication device 20A where the wireless link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20B is Willnever. Since the wireless linkbetween the wireless communication devices 20A and 20B is Willnever, thelink between the wireless communication devices 20A and 20B cannot beused as a relay link. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, when the destination isthe wireless communication device 20D, a communication path with 2 hops,going through the wireless communication device 20C not 20B, is set.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the path table of the wirelesscommunication device 20A where the wireless link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20B is Refuse. Since the wireless linkbetween the wireless communication devices 20A and 20B is Refuse, thelink between the wireless communication devices 20A and 20B can be usedneither as a relay link nor as a non-relay link. Thus, as shown in FIG.4, when the destination is the wireless communication device 20D, acommunication path with 2 hops, going through the wireless communicationdevice 20C not 20B, is set. Further, when the destination is thewireless communication 20B, a communication path with 2 hops, goingthrough the wireless communication device 20C, is set.

Heretofore, the wireless communication system 1 according to the presentembodiment has been schematically described with reference to FIGS. 1 to4. Each wireless communication device 20 structuring the wirelesscommunication system 1 enables the routing protocol to operate in anautonomous and distributed manner, and, at the same time, enables a userto engage in the setting of a communication path. Hereunder, such awireless communication device 20 will be described in detail withreference to FIGS. 5 to 15.

(2) CONFIGURATION OF A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a hardware configuration of thewireless communication device 20 according to the present embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 5, the wireless communication device 20 includes a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 201, a read only memory (ROM) 202, a random accessmemory (RAM) 203, a host bus 204, a bridge 205, an external bus 206, aninterface 207, an input unit 208, an output unit 210, a storage unit(HDD) 211, a drive 212, and a communication unit 215.

The CPU 201 functions as a computational processing device and a controldevice and performs overall control of operations within the wirelesscommunication device 20 according to various programs. The CPU 201 mayalso be a microprocessor. The ROM 202 stores programs, computationalparameters, and the like to be used by the CPU 201. The RAM 203temporarily stores the programs to be used by the CPU 201 in itsexecution, as well as parameters and the like that are changed asnecessary in the execution of the programs. The CPU 201, the ROM 202,and the RAM 203 are interconnected by the host bus 204, which isconfigured from a CPU bus and the like.

The host bus 204 is connected through the bridge 205 to the external bus206, such as a peripheral component interconnect/interface (PCI) bus orthe like. Note that it is not necessary for the host bus 204, the bridge205, and the external bus 206 to be configured separately. All of theirfunctions may also be incorporated into a single bus.

The input unit 208 is configured from, for example, an input section fora user to input information, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel,a button, a microphone, a switch, a lever, or the like, and an inputcontrol circuit for generating an input signal based on the input by theuser and outputting the same to the CPU 201. By operating the input unit208, the user of the wireless communication device 20 can input variousdata to the wireless communication device 20 or instruct the wirelesscommunication device 20 to perform processing operations.

The output unit 210 is configured from, for example, a display unit,such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) display unit, a liquid crystal display(LCD) unit, an organic light emitting display (OLED) unit, a lamp, orthe like, and an audio output unit such as a speaker, a headphone, orthe like. The output unit 210 outputs the content that is played back,for example. Specifically, the display unit displays, in the form oftext or images, various types of information that are played back, suchas video data and the like. On the other hand, the audio output unitconverts the audio data and the like that are played back to sound andoutputs the sound.

The storage unit 211 is a unit for data storage that is configured as anexample of a storage of the wireless communication device 20 accordingto the present embodiment. The storage unit 211 may include a storagemedium, a recording unit that records data in the storage medium, areadout unit that reads out data from the storage medium, a deletingunit that deletes the data that is recorded in the storage medium, andthe like. The storage unit 211 is configured from a hard disk drive(HDD), for example. The storage unit 211 drives the hard disk and storesvarious types of data and the programs that the CPU 201 executes.Further, the path table and the like are stored in the storage unit 211.

The drive 212 is a reader/writer for a storage medium and is built intoor attached externally to the wireless communication device 20. Thedrive 212 reads out and outputs to the RAM 203 information that isstored in a removable storage medium 24, such as a magnetic disk, anoptical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or thelike that is mounted.

The communication unit 215 is a communication interface that isconfigured from, for example, a communication device or the like forcommunicating with another wireless communication device 20. Further,the communication unit 215 may be a wireless local area network (LAN)compatible communication unit, a wireless USB compatible communicationunit or a wired communication unit that performs communication using afixed line. The communication unit 215 transmits/receives various datato/from another wireless communication device 20.

Heretofore, the hardware configuration of the wireless communicationdevice 20 according to the present embodiment has been described withreference to FIG. 5. Next, with reference to FIG. 6, the functions ofthe wireless communication device 20 according to the present embodimentwill be described.

FIG. 6 is a function block diagram showing a configuration of thewireless communication device 20 according to the present embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 6, the wireless communication device 20 includes acommunicator 216, a path table generator 220, a storage 224, a displayscreen generator 228, a display 232, a user operation detector 236, anda transmission data generator 240.

The communicator 216 is an interface to another wireless communicationdevice 20, and has functions of a transmitter and a receivertransmitting/receiving various information to/from the other wirelesscommunication device 20. For example, the communicator 216 down-convertsa high-frequency wireless signal transmitted from the other wirelesscommunication device 20 to a baseband signal, and converts the basebandsignal to a bit string. Also, the communicator 216 unicasts orbroadcasts wirelessly various data generated by the transmission datagenerator 240.

Incidentally, the communicator 216 may have the wireless communicationfunction specified by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers) 802.11a, b, g and the like, or the MIMO (Multiple InputMultiple Output) communication function as specified by IEEE 802.11n.Further, the communicator 216 may have the communication functioncompliant with WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access)standardized by IEEE 802.16.

The path table generator 220 has a function of a path setter thatdetermines, according to an arbitrary routing protocol, thecommunication path to another wireless communication device 20, andstores the determined communication path as a path table in the storage224. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, in the path table, thedestination wireless communication device 20, the next hop device, andthe hop counts to the destination wireless communication device 20 maybe correlated with each other.

The storage 224 is a storage medium in which the path table generated bythe path table generator 220 and the like are stored. Such storage 224may be a non-volatile memory such as an electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM) or the like, a magnetic disk such as a harddisk, a circular magnetic disk or the like, an optical disk such as acompact disc recordable (CD-R), a compact disc rewritable (CD-RW), adigital versatile disc recordable (DVD-R), a digital versatile discrewritable (DVD-RW), a dual-layer digital versatile disc recordable(DVD+R), a dual-layer digital versatile disc rewritable (DVD+RW), adigital versatile disc random access memory (DVD-RAM), a Blu-Ray™ discrecordable (BD-R), a dual-layer Blu-Ray™ disc recordable (BD-RE) or thelike, or a magneto-optical (MO) disk, or the like.

The display screen generator 228 generates a display screen showingconnection status between each wireless communication device 20. Theconnection status between each wireless communication device 20 may beobtained from peripheral wireless communication devices 20. The display232 displays the display screen generated by the display screengenerator 228. For example, the display 232 displays a display screen 30showing connection status shown in FIG. 7 generated by the displayscreen generator 228.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the displayscreen 30 showing connection status. As shown in FIG. 7, the displayscreen 30 showing connection status includes a display of a plurality ofthe wireless communication devices 20A to 20F and a display of wirelesslinks between the plurality of the wireless communication devices 20A to20F. In FIG. 7, it is indicated that a wireless link shown by a doubleline is Permit. That is, in FIG. 7, all the wireless links are Permit.In this case, a path table shown in FIG. 8 is generated by the pathtable generator 220 of the wireless communication device 20A.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the path tablegenerated by the path table generator 220. As shown in FIG. 8, when allthe wireless links are Permit, the hop count of the communication pathto the wireless communication device 20B is 1 since the wirelesscommunication device 20B corresponds to the next hop device. Also, thecommunication path to the wireless communication device 20D goes throughthe wireless communication device 20B, and its hop count is 2.

Note that the display screen 30 showing connection status shown in FIG.7 shows the connection statuses of the plurality of the wirelesscommunication devices 20A to 20F, and does not represent the actuallocation relationship. However, the display screen generator 228 maygenerate a display screen 30 showing connection status representing theactual location relationship between the plurality of the wirelesscommunication devices 20A to 20F. Such a function is realized by each ofthe plurality of the wireless communication devices 20A to 20F obtainingthe location information of itself by an arbitrary means andtransmitting the same. Based on the location information transmittedfrom the plurality of the wireless communication devices 20A to 20F, thedisplay screen generator 228 can determine the display position of eachof the wireless communication devices 20A to 20F on the display screen30 showing connection status.

Further, the arbitrary means for obtaining the location information maybe a global positioning system (GPS) measuring the current locationbased on navigation data transmitted from four or more satellites or ameans for estimating the current location based on the intensity of WiFisignals transmitted from a peripheral WiFi base station and the basestation location.

Here, returning to FIG. 6 to describe the configuration of the wirelesscommunication device 20, the user operation detector 236 has a functionof a detector detecting an operation of changing a wireless link by auser. When the operation of changing a wireless link is detected by theuser operation detector 236, the display screen generator 228 changesthe display screen 30 showing connection status to be generated.Further, the path table generator 220 updates the contents of the pathtable.

Further, when the operation of changing a wireless link is detected bythe user operation detector 236, the communicator 216 may transmit thecontent of the change operation to a peripheral wireless communicationdevice. With such a configuration, the peripheral wireless communicationdevice can update the path table based on the received content of thechange operation. Hereunder, with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13, a concreteexample is shown where the display screen 30 showing connection statusand the path table are changed based on the operation of changing awireless link by a user.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing a case where a useroperation is being performed on the display screen 30 showing connectionstatus. On the display screen 30 showing connection status, a user maychange the status of a wireless link by pointing to a desired wirelesslink with a cursor 32. In the example shown in FIG. 9, when the userpoints to the wireless link between the wireless communication devices20A and 20B with the cursor 32, a status selection window 34 isdisplayed. The status selection window 34 includes Permit, Willnever andRefuse. In the phase shown in FIG. 9, since the wireless link betweenthe wireless communication devices 20A and 20B is Permit, Permit isbeing underlined.

When Refuse is selected by the user in the status selection window 34shown in FIG. 9, the display screen generator 228 generates the displayscreen 30 showing connection status shown in FIG. 10. That is, as shownin FIG. 10, when Refuse is selected by the user in the status selectionwindow 34 shown in FIG. 9, the wireless link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20B is changed to a dotted line indicatingRefuse. Further, in the status selection window 34, Refuse isunderlined.

Further, when Refuse is selected by the user in the status selectionwindow 34 shown in FIG. 9, the path table generator 220 updates the pathtable shown in FIG. 8 to the path table shown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the updated path table. Asshown in FIG. 11, when the wireless link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20B are changed to Refuse by the user, thecommunication path to the wireless communication device 20B is changedto a path with 2 hops, going through the wireless communication device20C. Also, the communication path to the wireless communication device20D is changed to a path with 3 hops, going through the wirelesscommunication devices 20C and 20E.

Heretofore, a case has been described where the wireless link betweenthe wireless communication devices 20A and 20B is changed to Refuse bythe user. Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, a concrete example of thepath table and the display screen 30 showing connection status whereanother change operation is performed by the user will be described.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a user operationis being performed on the display screen 30 showing connection status.To be more precise, FIG. 12 shows a display screen 30 showing connectionstatus generated by the display screen generator 228 after the userpointed to the wireless link between the wireless communication devices20A and 20C with the cursor 32 and selected Willnever in the statusselection window 34.

As shown in FIG. 12, when the wireless link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20C is changed to Willnever by the user,the display screen generator 228 changes the display of the wirelesslink between the wireless communication devices 20A and 20C to a singleline indicating Willnever. Incidentally, in the above, examples havebeen described where the status of the wireless link is shown in adouble line, a single line or a dotted line, but the present embodimentis not limited to such examples. For example, the status of the wirelesslink may be shown, distinguished based on the form, the thickness, thecolour or the transparency of the line, or a symbol, or the like.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the updated path table. To bemore precise, FIG. 13 shows the path table updated by the path tablegenerator 220 after the wireless link between the wireless communicationdevices 20A and 20C is changed to Willnever by the user. When thewireless link between the wireless communication devices 20A and 20C ischanged to Willnever, the wireless link between the wirelesscommunication devices 20A and 20C can no longer be used as a relay link.Accordingly, when the wireless link between the wireless communicationdevices 20A and 20C is changed to Willnever, as shown in FIG. 13, exceptfor the communication path to the wireless communication device 20C, allcommunication paths are changed to communication paths, which go throughthe wireless communication device 20B.

Based on the path table generated by the path table generator 220 insuch a manner and stored in the storage 224, the transmission datagenerator 240 generates a header of data to be transmitted to a desireddestination wireless communication device 20 including the next hopdevice address and the like.

(3) OPERATION OF THE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

Heretofore, the configuration of the wireless communication device 20has been described. Next, a method for generating a display executed inthe wireless communication device 20 will be described.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are flow charts showing the flow of the method forgenerating a display executed in the wireless communication device 20.As shown in FIG. 14, first, the display screen generator 228 of thewireless communication device 20 generates a display screen showingconnection status, and the display 232 displays the display screenshowing connection status (S304).

Next, when the user operation detector 236 detects an operation ofchanging a specific wireless link (S308), the display screen generator228 generates a display screen showing connection status reflecting thecontent of the change operation, and the display 232 displays thedisplay screen showing connection status (S312). Next, the path tablegenerator 220 updates the path table based on the content of the changeoperation (S316).

The updating of the path table of the wireless communication device 20Awill be concretely described with reference to FIG. 15. First, the pathtable generator 220 of the wireless communication device 20A generates apath to the wireless communication device 20B with 1 hop based on therouting protocol (S330). Next, when the wireless link between thewireless communication devices 20A and 20B is Refuse (S334), the pathtable generator 220 searches for another path to the wirelesscommunication device 20B with 2 or more hops (S338). Incidentally,“wireless link <A,B>” shown in FIG. 15 indicates the status of thewireless link between the wireless communication device 20A and thewireless communication device 20B.

Then, the path table generator 220 generates a path with 2 or more hops,going through the wireless communication device 20C (S342). When thewireless link between the wireless communication devices 20A and 20C isRefuse or Willnever (S346), the path table generator 220 searches foranother path, which does not go through the wireless communicationdevice 20C (S350).

(4) CONCLUSION

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the wirelessmulti-hop network, in a system where a path is generated in anautonomous and distributed manner by the routing protocol, the status ofa wireless link between the wireless communication devices 20 can be setby a user (third party), and, based on the setting, the routing protocolcan reset the path in an autonomous and distributed manner.

Thus, notifying event information that the user is aware of beforehand,such as cutting off of power of the wireless communication device 20,allows the routing protocol to reset a path in an autonomous anddistributed manner such that cost for switching a path caused by theevent is avoided beforehand.

Also, since basically the path setting is performed automaticallywithout depending on the routing protocol being used, the presentembodiment can be applied to an existing system comparatively easilywithout drastically changing the characteristics of the routingprotocol.

Also, using graphic display in the method for changing the status (pathpolicy) of a wireless link allows a user to instinctively manage thepath table, and it is anticipated to be applied on a system intensivelymanaging a wireless multi-hop network.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

For example, in the embodiment described above, an example has beendescribed where the wireless communication device 20 displays thedisplay screen showing connection status and detects the changeoperation by the user, but the present invention is not limited to suchan example. For example, an information processor connected to thewireless communication device 20 by an arbitrary method may display thedisplay screen showing connection status, detect the change operation bythe user, and generate a new display screen. Further, the informationprocessor may, on detecting the change operation by the user, transmitthe content of the change operation to the connected wirelesscommunication device 20. With such a configuration, the wirelesscommunication device 20 may reset the communication path based on thecontent of the change operation received from the information processor.

Further, in the embodiment described above, an example has beendescribed where the user performs the operation of changing a wirelesslink when the user is aware beforehand of the change in the status of awireless link, but the present invention is not limited to such anexample. For example, when the user wants to avoid using a certainwireless communication device as a relay device, due to the fact thatthe battery of the wireless communication device is low, the wirelesscommunication device is battery-driven, the performance of the wirelesscommunication device is extremely poor, or the like, the user may changethe wireless link relating to the wireless communication device toWillnever.

Further, the respective steps of the processing in the wirelesscommunication device 20 according to this specification do notnecessarily have to be performed in a temporal sequence in the ordershown in the flow charts. For example, the respective steps of theprocessing in the wireless communication device 20 may also be performedin parallel or individually (for example, in parallel processing orprocessing according to an object).

It is also possible to create a computer program that will cause thehardware that is built into the wireless communication device 20, suchas the CPU 201, the ROM 202, the RAM 203, and the like, to exhibitfunctions that are equivalent to each structure in the wirelesscommunication device 20 described above. A storage medium may also beprovided to store the computer program. Further, a series of processescan be implemented in hardware by configuring as hardware the functionblocks shown in the function block diagram in FIG. 6.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: central processing unit(CPU) configured to: generate an image that shows a communication pathbetween a transmitting device and a receiving device in a wirelesscommunication network; control a display screen to display the generatedimage; detect a user input via the display screen; control the displayscreen to display status information on the displayed generated imagebased on the user input; select a first type of statuses from the statusinformation; change the communication path between the transmittingdevice and the receiving device based on the selected first type ofstatuses, wherein the communication path graphically shows that thecommunication path is configured as a relay link, and wherein the relaylink indicates that the receiving device relays data received from thetransmitting device; and update contents of a path table based on thechanged communication path, wherein the path table includes address ofthe receiving device, a next hop device, and a number of hop counts tothe receiving device.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecommunication path is configured as one of the relay link or a non-relaylink.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the status informationincludes one of the first type of statuses, a second type of statuses ora third type of statuses, wherein the first type of statuses comprises afirst routing protocol where the communication path is configured as anon-relay link and the relay link, wherein the second type of statusescomprises a second routing protocol where the communication path isconfigured as the non-relay link, and wherein the third type of statusescomprises a third routing protocol where the communication path isconfigured as other than the non-relay link or the relay link.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the display screen shows a locationrelationship between the transmitting device and the receiving device.5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user input corresponds to apointing operation of a cursor on the communication path.
 6. A method,comprising: generating an image that shows a communication path betweena transmitting device and a receiving device in a wireless communicationnetwork; controlling a display screen to display the generated image;detecting a user input via the display screen; controlling the displayscreen to display status information on the displayed generated imagebased on the user input; selecting a first type of statuses from thestatus information; changing the communication path between thetransmitting device and the receiving device based on the selected firsttype of statuses, wherein the communication path graphically shows thatthe communication path is configured as a relay link, and wherein therelay link indicates that the receiving device relays data received fromthe transmitting device; and updating contents of a path table based onthe changed communication path, wherein the path table includes addressof the receiving device, a next hop device, and a number of hop countsto the receiving device.